Drugs & Pregnancy

One of the reason's I was so initially interested in taking a class on Women & Drugs has to do with the fact that my birth mother was addicted to crack cocaine and also had abusive relationships with various other illicit drugs and alcohol while she was pregnant with me.  I have always wanted to learn further in the reasonings for why drugs are so harmful towards not only them but for the unborn baby seeing as how this directly affects my life on a daily basis.  For pregnant women, drug abuse is doubly harmful because not only is it dangerous for the mother, but it can harm the health of that of the unborn child.  Virtually abusing all illegal drugs, such as heroin, cocaine, opiates etc. poses dangers to pregnant women.  This doesn't demean the fact that even legal substances such as to alcohol, tobacco, and even prescription drugs can be harmful for the health of the mother and the baby-to-be.

The reason it is so vital for a pregnant woman to steer clear of drugs has to do with the development and stages of prenatal organ growth.  Most of the bodily organs and systems of the unborn baby are formed within the first ten weeks of the pregnancy, and during this stage drugs and alcohol use can cause malformations in parts of the fetus such as the heart, brain, limbs, and facial features.  After the tenth week the fetus starts to grow more rapidly in size and weight and drugs may damage organs that are still developing.  The greatest danger drugs pose within this stage of prenatal growth is that of the unborn baby having a normal growth.  

For myself personally I was born with some minor birth defects due to my mother's drug and alcohol use and even at twenty one and as a junior in college I still am affected by her drug use everyday.  My struggles while growing up and developing as a child were great and I constantly had to have testing done to see where my learning ability was.  When I was born had an extremely low birthweight, was premature, and had heart problems that nearly led to me dying.  Seeing as alcohol is one of the most dangerous drugs pregnant women can abuse I was very sick and was monitored for serious birth defects such as Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) and actually have some minor characteristics of FAS.  Heavy drinking during early pregnancy increases the risk of a cluster of birth defects such as FAS, this cluster includes: abnormal facial features, heart defects, small skull, and can accompany mental retardation.

Drugs & Pregnancy